Major Supreme Court victory on greenhouse gas emissions

Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court delivered a blow to the Bush Administration's policy on greenhouse gas emissions.  The court ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency "has offered no reasonedexplanation" for its unwillingness to regulate carbon emissions from cars, and that the agency can regulate them:

The Supreme Court ordered the federal government on Monday to take afresh look at regulating carbon dioxide emissions from cars, a rebuketo Bush administration policy on global warming.

In a 5-4 decision, the court said the Clean Air Act gives theEnvironmental Protection Agency the authority to regulate the emissionsof carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from cars.

This is a historic ruling by the Supreme Court.  This court battle began under Clinton.  The Clinton Administration filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy Corp in an effort to force utilities to enact pollution control, especially pertaining to coal power plants.  Today, the  justices overturned a ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia -- saying that the lower court over-stepped its authority by not recognizing Environmental Protection Agency regulations of 1980.

In a nutshell, since the very beginning of the Bush years back in 2001, the Administration's excuse for not reducing greenhouse emissions was that they lacked the power to do so -- which is hypocritical when you take into account how Executive power has expanded in other areas.  Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote for the majority, said the Administration's reasoning was "arbitrary, capricious or otherwise not in accordance withlaw."

I bet you can guess which which justices dissented from the majority:

• Chief Justice John Roberts
• Samuel Alito
• Clarence Thomas
• Antonin Scalia

I am going to write much more about this today and tomorrow, and give you a glimpse at what this really means for the future of environmental law.